“Douglas undertook his mapping of Irish population in Olmsted County after conducting a survey of historic locales for the Olmsted County Planning Department. He and a student, Eric Cronin, combed through census documents and plat books to determine where Irish people lived in the county. ‘We decided to see if we could map the Irish in the county from 1860 to 1870,’ Douglas said.

“What they found was a somewhat clannish form of settlement, with Irish newcomers, as was typical for most immigrant groups, settling in close proximity to other Irish people.

“What is somewhat unusual about their findings, though, was the rural nature of the Irish settlement in the county. Typically, Irish immigrants settled in urban areas, particularly in the northeastern U.S., or in Midwestern cities such as Chicago and St. Paul.”